Capitol Reef, Grand Escalante, Red Canyon (FLASH FLOOD)

Pulled away from Goblin Valley, we needed to drive to our next campsite, 20 miles from the Arizona border, a good location for Zion, Bryce and then a good start for the North Rim. We did a power tour of Capitol Reef (petroglyphs – my favorite), Grand Escalante (enormous and barren), and several state parks (I don’t remember which ones but we stamped our passport).


We drove past Bryce Canyon knowing we’d go the next day and as we passed through a storm exploded on us. We entered Red Canyon as waterfalls of red mud and water were flowing across the road. The car in front of us drove through a stream and was covered with a wave of red. We had to go into the other lane to find a lowpoint. This was not just in one spot – it was for the whole of our trip through the Red Canyon. We passed a car that had blown all four tires going through one of the streams covering the road. The normally dry ditch on the side was a raging river, ready to overflow its banks with red goo. It was wild and, yes, I was scared. I thought we were either going to reach an impassable part and have to turn around or have a wall of mud slide onto my side of the car. Neither happened, the storm ended and we drove to our home for the next two days.